1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a junction box having a block type structure which can be manufactured in a simpler way and can be applied to various vehicle models.
2. Background Art
Electrical devices of a vehicle are compared to human nervous system. If the electrical devices do not function well, the vehicle cannot operate properly.
The electrical devices are divided into engine side electrical devices and vehicle body side electrical devices. The engine side electrical devices include an ignition device including an ignition coil, a power distributor high-voltage cable, and an ignition plug, and a charge device including a generator and a regulator. The vehicle body side electrical devices include a storage battery, a light device for lighting, indicating, and signaling, and a cooling and heating device and an instrument warning display device provided in an instrument panel.
The electrical devices of a vehicle are connected to an electronic control unit (ECU) using wires within an engine room of the vehicle, and a junction box is used as an intermediary for connecting the wires and the ECU.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,883 discloses a junction box structure of vehicles which includes a connector housing, a relay housing, and a fuse housing provided in an upper case thereof, and a busbar connected to a lower part thereof. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-135944 discloses a junction box structure in which a connector module, a relay module, and a fuse module are connected by a busbar between an upper case and a lower case.
However, the prior art junction box structures have disadvantages. Namely, the prior art structures cannot be applied to various kinds of vehicle models because they are not formed in a standard structure applicable to various vehicle models. Further, they are required to be formed in a retainer structure (not shown) in order to fix a terminal connected to each housing or each module, which increases overall weight and manufacturing costs and remarkably deteriorates workability as well.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views illustrating the structure of a conventional junction box.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional junction box includes a lower case 110 in which a plurality of connectors 100 are provided, a main body 120 connected to the connector 100, and an upper case 130 mounted to an upper part of the main body 120.
A plurality of circuit boards in which a conductive pattern and a non-conductive pattern are formed can be mounted in the main body 120, in which case plurality of circuit boards are stacked in the main body 120.
Components such as a relay and a fuse are positioned in a circuit board disposed in an upper part of the plurality of circuit boards, a busbar for commonly connecting the fuse, etc. is disposed in upper and lower circuit boards, and a busbar layer in which busbars are formed in a layer is formed in the upper and lower circuit boards. Further, as shown in “A” of FIG. 2, wire-to-wire may be additionally applied, in addition to the connectors.
The conventional junction box, however, has disadvantages. A circuit board should be changed according to a particular specification of a vehicle, and the structure of the conventional junction box has to be changed according to the change of circuit board, which requires a long period of time and additional costs for developing and manufacturing a product. Further, the junction box has a complicated structure involving many coupled components, which increases the weight of the junction box and production costs thereof as well.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.